Krishna Shah

Krishna Shah (10 May 1938 – 13 October 2013) was an Indian-American/Gujarati^[1] film and theatre director, screenwriter, playwright, producer, and production/distribution executive.^[2]

Shah was considered the first Indian to create the crossover between Bollywood and Hollywood.^[3][4] He began his career with international stage plays^[5] and also screenplay work for US television,^[6] but is perhaps best known for directing the feature films Shalimar and The River Niger. In his middle years, Shah was involved with the low budget cult circuit, directing and distributing movies such as Hard Rock Zombies and Ted & Venus, the later of which he executive produced through his Double Helix Films banner.^[7]

Shah was a perennial of the international film distribution scene, where he spent decades in various sales, production, and leadership capacities.^[8][9]

In 1984, after years of creating nothing but financial and critical failures at both the US and Indian motion picture box office, Shah became famously "enraged" over the lack of interest in his film catalogue by distributors in his native India, saying, "the difference between filmmaking in Hollywood and India is like the difference between steak and curry."^[10]

In a 2010 interview, Shah said to Dinesh Raheja of Mid Day News, "I was the (M.) Night Shyamalan of my times."^[11]

Upon his death in 2013, iconic Bollywood actress Zeenat Aman^[12] described Shah as "a very warm and hospitable man".^[13]